


Northwest Passage (the slashy version)

by Luzula



Category: due South
Genre: Dogsledding, Filk, M/M, Podfic Available, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash, Quest, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-30
Updated: 2007-08-30
Packaged: 2017-10-03 13:38:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luzula/pseuds/Luzula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stan Rogers' song Northwest Passage rewritten as a slashy post-CotW story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Northwest Passage (the slashy version)

**Author's Note:**

> Melody and some lyrics by Stan Rogers, harmonies and the rest of the lyrics by me. His original lyrics are [here](http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/783.html) for comparison. Thank you to J S Cavalcante for betaing this and pushing me to improve the first version.
> 
> I've recorded this song together with my sister, you can download it [here](http://audiofic.jinjurly.com/northwest-passage-filk). I sing solo in the first verse (okay, maybe it's a bit high for me, but I wanted to sing the melody somewhere), then we're in unison, then she takes over the melody and I sing the harmony, since she's the soprano and I'm the alto.

Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie  
The sea route to the Orient for which so many died;  
Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones  
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones.

Chorus:  
Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage  
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea,  
Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage  
And make a northwest passage to the sea.

Three centuries thereafter we take passage overland  
In wintertime, to search for Franklin's reaching-out hand  
The dogs toil on before us through the many shades of white  
Running far before the fading of the light

Chorus

We eat and move to stay alive, two sparks of life exposed  
In the vast and open land stretching far out to the coast  
I've come home to the satisfying hard work of the trail  
And sharing it with you will never pale

Chorus

Through the evening, by the stove, we huddle close and rest  
I drink my tea, and wonder why you came with me on this quest  
I watch you surreptitiously in the corner of my eyes  
Wishing I could simply speak my mind

Chorus

I am lost, I cannot read your body like the land  
Although I am aware of every movement of your hands  
I admire your unconscious grace as you steer the sled  
Imagining your hands on me instead

Chorus:  
Ah, if just one time I could gather all my courage  
And cross the line unspoken that is keeping us apart  
Then my lips, hands, words all would speak of my desire  
To make a place of warmth amid the cold


End file.
